This speaker series is presented in advance of the UW Symphony's upcoming Feb. 6, 2026 performance of Bruce Ruddell's symphony, "Healing Heart of the First People of This Land."
The series is open to the public. Doors open at 10:30 am for coffee and pastries. All talks are on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 12 pm.
10/9: łuutiis Charlotte Coté (Nuu-chah-nulth) with Dian Million (Tanana) as discussant
10/16: Tami Hohn (Puyallup) with McKenna Sweet Dorman (Snoqualmie) as discussant
10/23: Laurel Sercombe with John Vallier as Discussant: “The Journey of Basket Ogress: A History of the Revival and Revitalization of the Lushootseed Language in Coast Salish Country”. Sercombe is retired sound archivist and curator for the UW Ethnomusicology Archive (Home of the Vi Hilbert Archive). Vallier is curator for UW Special Collections and the Ethnomusicology Archive (Home of the Vi Hilbert Archive); Adjunct faculty in the School of Music and UW Comparative History of Ideas.
10/30: John LaPointe (Swinomish)
11/6: Jill tsisqʷux̌ʷaʔł LaPointe (Upper Skagit/Nooksack) with Janet Yoder: "The Healing Heart of Lushootseed: A Film Screening and Discussion." Jill tsisqʷux̌ʷaʔł LaPointe (Upper Skagit/Nooksack), is senior director of the Indigenous Peoples Institute at Seattle University. Janet Yoder is the author of Where the Language Lives: Vi Hilbert and the Gift of the Lushootseed, which pays tribute to the woman whose determination and passion helped breathe life into her language and culture, and was a finalist for the 2023 WA State Book Award.
11/13: Composer Bruce Ruddell, Musicians Adia tsi sʔuyuʔaɫ Bowen (Upper Skagit) and Ben Workman Smith (Tolowa), Conductors Ryan Dudenbostel and David Rahbee, with John-Carlos Perea (Mescalero Apache/German/Irish/Chicano) as discussant
11/20 Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe (Upper Skagit/Nooksack): Native to the Pacific Northwest, Sasha draws inspiration from her Coast Salish heritage as well as her life in the city. She writes with a focus on trauma and resilience, PTSD, sexual violence, and the work her great grandmother did for Lushootseed language revitalization.
More information on this series `
Sponsored by Lushootseed Research; Indigenous Peoples Institute @ Seattle University; Arts UW; UW School of Music; Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies; American Indian Studies Department; Simpson Center for the Humanities; wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House @ the University of Washington